Court Mediation

Each year less than 3% of civil actions commenced in the District Court are finalised by the parties going to trial. While some actions are resolved through a party obtaining default judgment or summary judgment, most of the remainder are resolved by agreement between the parties. The Court operates an alternate dispute resolution ("ADR") program to facilitate the parties to actions in the Court settling their actions as soon as practicable after commencement.

The Registrars of the Court undertake about 2,500 ADR conferences each year, including over 150 more formal mediation conferences. More background on the District Court’s ADR Program is found in a (Submission Paper) and (Background Paper) provided by the District Court to the National Alternate Dispute Resolution Advisory Committee in response to its issues paper on the use of ADR in the Civil Justice System.